Armenia appoints ex-Gazprom executive as new prime minister

YEREVAN, Armenia – Armenia's president has appointed a former executive of a subsidiary of Russian gas company Gazprom to be the country's new prime minister.

Karen Karapetyan is also a 53-year-old former mayor of the capital, Yerevan. The president's office announced his appointment on Tuesday.

The previous premier resigned last week in order to give way to a coalition government in a widely expected move following a violent standoff at a police station in the nation's capital.

Several dozen armed men captured the police compound in the capital, Yerevan, in July, demanding freedom for an opposition activist and the government's ouster. The standoff galvanized Armenia's protest movement, triggering rallies in support of the gunmen and occasional clashes with police.